A Democratic operative who once served as former Cincinnati Councilman
John Cranley’s campaign manager already is staking out cyber turf in
advance of Cranley’s rumored run for mayor of Cincinnati.Two Internet domains have been registered for CranleyForMayor on GoDaddy.com.The domains were created three months ago.As yet, no active websites are operating on CranleyForMayor.org or CranleyForMayor.info.

Both sites are held in the name of Jay Kincaid, a longtime Democratic operative in Cincinnati.This
year, Kincaid has been working on the campaigns of Denise Driehaus, who
is seeking reelection to the Ohio House, and Steve Black, who is
running for Common Pleas Judge.(Kincaid is engaged to Black’s daughter.)Kincaid
ran Cranley’s successful 2007 campaign for reelection to Cincinnati
City Council and was paid about $26,000 for the work.Obviously, he and Cranley go back a long way.It’s doubtful Kincaid would have staked out the Internet domains for another candidate to double-cross Cranley.There have been instances where people have grabbed domains to shut out opponents, or set up spoof and decoys asdirty tricks.By all accounts, Kincaid is described as a trusted adviser.

So far, there’s been no official announcement that Cranley is running for mayor.Yet there have been plenty of rumors.Cranley
recently positioned himself as an opponent of Mayor Mark Mallory’s
efforts to finance the streetcar project, a move that put him back in
the news.Registering Internet domains is likely to add to the speculation.All
candidates these days have websites, and the portals are central to
fundraising, getting out the word on issues and scheduling events.

Who else
might be running to succeed Mallory, who is term-limited out of office
next year? Among the D’s, names being mentioned include Vice Mayor
Roxanne Qualls, Democratic State Sen. Eric Kearney and Councilman P.G.
Sittenfeld.Kearney is the highest-ranking Democrat in the Ohio Senate, and can’t run for reelection due to term limits.He’s reportedly told people he wants to move into the mayor’s office, but he’s also said to have recently changed his mind.The word from Democratic insiders about Kearney: Stay tuned.Qualls, who served as mayor in the 1990s, is said to be a definite.Sittenfeld is called a complete question mark.

On the GOP side, Charlie Winburn might run again.And Chris Smitherman is considered a possibility as either a Democrat, Republican, under a Third Party flag or an independent.

Cincinnati City Council on Wednesday approved a set of
measures to alter funding of the $110 million streetcar project in order
avoid further delaying its 2015 opening.

The three measures set up $15 million to front to Duke
Energy to move utility lines out of the proposed path; changes the
source of funding to repay some $25 million in bonds used to pay for the
streetcar; sells $14 million in bonds for streetcar improvements; and
changes the municipal code to clarify that it is the responsibility of a
utility to relocate its structures.

The $15 million comes from the $37 million sale of city-owned land near the former Blue Ash Airport.

Council voted 6-3 to approve the front money, improvement
bonds and bond repayment, a vote that largely mirrored a Monday Budget
and Finance Committee vote. Councilman Chris Smitherman was the sole
“no” vote on the ordinance to change the municipal code.

“My concern with all of these votes … in particular the
Blue Ash Airport dollars, these were promises that you made to the
neighborhoods and I don’t have the confidence that the legal battle
against Duke Energy is going to yield a 100 percent win for the city of
Cincinnati, so there’s no assurance that these dollars are going to come
back,” said Councilman Chris Smitherman, one of the most vocal
opponents of the streetcar.

“I want to be clear that it’s something that I don’t support.”

The $15 million would be fronted to Duke to move its lines
while the city and utility work out who is responsible for funding the
move.

Duke estimates the full cost at $18 million and argues
that the lines would not have to be moved if the streetcar wasn’t being
built. The city maintains that it has always been the responsibility of
utilities to move or upgrade their structures — which the third measure
clarified in the municipal code. If the city loses a legal battle against Duke, it will not
recoup the $15 million.

The second proposal switches the source of funding for
streetcar bonds from money coming into city coffers from southern
downtown and the riverfront area to a 1995 fund set up to collect
service payments from the Westin/Star, Hyatt and Saks. The measure wouldn't use any additional new money for the streetcar.

That downtown area wasn’t bringing in as much cash as
expected but the city hopes to repay the other fund once the downtown
district — which includes the Banks and the casino —rebounds.

Mayor criticizes county commissioner for going to media first

Mayor Mark Mallory was not happy with Hamilton County
Commission President Greg Hartmann’s Tuesday letter criticizing him for failing to follow through with a city-county shared services plan. Mallory fired back today in his own letter,
criticizing Hartmann for going to the media first and explaining why he
no longer supports the City County Shared Services Committee.

“We have had a
strong working relationship since you have become Commission
President,” Mallory wrote. “So, I was surprised and disappointed that
you sent the letter to the media instead of sharing your concerns with
me directly; after all, you have my cell phone number.”

Mallory went on to point out that Hartmann is the fourth
commission president he has worked with, and the previous three “never
would have handled City/County relations in such a confrontational
manner.”

The mayor also clarified why he no longer supports the
City County Shared Services Committee, which was meant to consolidate
county and city services to end redundancies and improve efficiency and
competitiveness.

“As the scope of the proposed committee’s work was
developed, it became clear to me that not only were we already
collaborating at a high level, but that several new collaborations
proposed by the City had met resistance from the County,” Mallory wrote.
“I began to question the need for a committee to conduct a $400,000
study of future collaboration if there were already potential new
collaborations sitting on the shelf.”

Mallory also said he “will never give away the ability of
the citizens of Cincinnati to control crucial City functions.” He cited
the examples of prosecutors and health clinics, which Mallory implied
could have been given off to the county if the committee pushed through
its recommendations.

The mayor also pointed out that even if the city and
county approved the committee and its recommendations, Hamilton County
would still have serious budget problems: “You and I both know that the
recommendations of the Shared Services Committee would never have
resulted in close to enough savings to close the County’s budget
deficit, and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.” In other words, stop
shifting the blame.

The rest of Mallory’s letter went on to point out
Cincinnati and Hamilton County collaborate on a regular basis to
“improve services, create efficiencies, and save money.” The mayor
pointed to many programs for examples of the city and county working
together: the Banks development, the Convention and Visitors Bureau,
the Metropolitan Sewer District, emergency operations, the Port Authority, a
$1.9 million city-county contract that has the county manage
Cincinnati’s Tenant Based Rental Assistance Program and the Neighborhood
Stabilization Program Consortium.

Mallory also claimed there have been cases in which the county declined to collaborate with the city, citing the Indigent Care Levy. The
county’s consultant recommended Hamilton County give some of that levy
to provide county residents access to primary care at the City Health
Center System, but the county declined the potential partnership.

Mallory then said he was willing to work on collaboration
with purchasing, fire hydrant maintenance and economic development —
three areas Hartmann cited in his own letter to Mallory.

The letter finished with a call to end the politics of the
back-and-forth: “I feel very strongly that it is time to take the
politics out and leave the matter to the public sector professionals.
The City Manager is ready to meet with the County Administrator to
discuss any proposed partnership that would improve the lives of our
citizens by improving service, increasing efficiency, or saving money.”

In his letter, Hartmann
criticized Mallory for not keeping his promise to back the
city-county committee, citing a previous letter from Mallory to the
Ohio Department of Development that promised $100,000 for the new committee.

DNC causes first week's cancellations, Council to resume Sept. 19

After taking a two-month summer break — with a week for
some committee hearings and a council meeting — Cincinnati City Council
has canceled its meetings for the first half of September.

The council meetings for Sept. 6 and 12 have been
canceled, along with all committee meetings for the first week of
September and the Job Growth Committee meeting for Sept. 10.

Jason Barron, spokesman for Mayor Mark Mallory, said the
council meetings were canceled due to the Democratic National
Convention, which is occurring in the first week of September. Barron
said many of the Democratic officials in the city are delegates to the
convention.

Asked why the City Council meeting was canceled for the second week of September, Barron said he didn’t know.

Council did meet once in August, where they approved a ballot measure to lengthen council terms from two to four years, as well as a plan to undo the sale of the Blue Ash airport.

All of the committee meetings for the week of the DNC were
canceled as well. Strategic Growth Committee chairwoman Laure Quinlivan
is not a delegate to the convention, but is attending, an aide said.

Council members Roxanne Qualls and Cecil Thomas, who chair
the Budget and Finance and Public Safety Committees respectively, did
not respond to CityBeat’s requests for comment as of Friday afternoon.

A special meeting of the Rules and Government Operations
Committee is meeting on Sept. 10 — the first committee meeting after the
summer break. An aide to committee chairman Wendell Young says the
committee is meeting to receive a report from a task force charged with
recommending ways to put grocery stores in so-called “food deserts” — neighborhoods where fresh food isn’t readily available.

The Livable Communities Committee and Major Transportation
& Infrastructure Sub-committee are meeting during the second week
of September, but the first full council meeting isn’t until the 19th.

Council still has a few big-ticket items it is expected
to deal with this year, including proposed budget cuts from City Manager
Milton Dohoney (expected to be laid out in November) and the approval
of a new city plan, which shifts development emphasis from downtown and
Over-the-Rhine to the city’s other 50 neighborhoods. More on that plan here.

Mayor Mark Mallory and local attorney Stan Chesley announced in a press release that they will be speaking later today about the city’s pool season. The unusually hot summer has sparked some calls that the city should keep pools open for longer, and it looks like the mayor may be ready to meet demands. Mallory and Chesley will make their announcement at 1 p.m.

City Council moved to ban wastewater injection wells, which are used to dispose wastewater that is produced during fracking, within city limits. Studies have linked the injection wells to earthquakes, including a series of tremors felt in Youngstown, Ohio around New Year’s Eve.

The Public Library Association says the downtown branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County was the busiest library in North America in 2011. The ranking compared 1,300 public libraries from the United States and Canada.

Councilman Chris Seelbach was allegedly assaulted by an unidentified man Monday night when exiting a downtown bar. Seelbach was reported to be in good condition, and he said the incident will not deter him from spending time downtown in the future.

Cincinnati manufacturing slumped during July, according to the Cincinnati Purchasing Management Index. It’s the first time the index has shown economic contraction since late 2009.

Gov. John Kasich is still planning to cut the state’s income tax, and his next target for paying for it seems to be the state sales tax. Kasich wants to limit tax credits, deductions and exemptions in the sales tax to pay for the income tax reduction.

President Barack Obama reached 50 percent support in key swing states in the latest Quinnipiac poll. The poll put him at 50 percent and Mitt Romney at 44 percent in Ohio. Without Ohio, Romney would have a very rocky — if not impossible — road to the White House.

Rep. Steven LaTourette, an Ohio Republican, announced his retirement from politics yesterday. The congressman blamed his retirement on the lack of bipartisanship in Congress. LaTourette was one of the few Republicans to support labor unions, and he was known for criticizing Republicans for being completely unwilling to raise taxes.

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt told the Financial Times he sees little future in nuclear power. Immelt argued that the future of energy is natural gas, which is now largely obtained from fracking, and renewable resources like solar power, hydropower and wind power.

Mayor Mark Mallory announced a trade deal between the small Greater Cincinnati-based Solutions Plus, Inc. and the giant Saudi Arabia-based Diversified Lines Petroleum Company. The deal will produce $20 million in business in the next two to five years, said Solutions Plus President Charlie Weaver. The deal is largely due to a trade mission to Saudi Arabia Mallory led in January.

Cincinnati is studying the feasibility of a bike share program. If enacted, the program would begin next summer in Over-the-Rhine and Uptown.

Kings Island is taking down the Son of Beast. The attraction, which was originally advertised as the only wooden roller coaster with a loop, has been closed since 2009 due to a series of problems.

Gov. John Kasich announced the approval of 25 new economic projects by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. The approval should pave the way to 2,003 new jobs and $212 million in investment in Ohio, according to the announcement. Three of the projects will be in the city of Cincinnati: Integra LifeSciences Corporation, Southern Air Incorporated and Corbus, LLC.

Kasich wants answers. Yesterday, the governor gave his opinion on the ongoing investigation into the Ohio Department of Education and Ohio schools for fraudulent data reporting. Kasich said both schools and the Ohio Department of Education should be held accountable if necessary.

Democrats are setting the groundwork to endorse same-sex marriage in the official party platform for the 2012 election. The news would echo President Barack Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage earlier this year.

Mayor plans to reach out to Washington to remove funding restriction

Mayor Mark Mallory is working to thwart an effort by
Cincinnati’s own U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) to prevent federal
funding from being used to construct a streetcar in the city. Chabot
offered an amendment on June 27 to the 2013 Transportation and Housing
Urban Development spending bill that would bar federal transportation
money from being used to design, construct or operate a “fixed guideway”
project in Cincinnati.

Mallory called Chabot’s move “nothing but a political stunt.” Mallory today said in a press release that he is reaching out to
legislative leaders in both the U.S. House and Senate to remove the
amendment. Mallory said he’s also making calls to the White House.

“Steve Chabot seems determined to stop progress in Cincinnati,” Mallory
said in the release. “He seems determined to make sure that other parts
of the country thrive, while Cincinnati is left in the past. That is not
the kind of leadership that we need in Washington, D.C..”

The city has procured a $25 million federal Urban Circulator Grant. That
funding would not be jeopardized, as the Chabot amendment would only
apply to federal funding for fiscal year 2013.

The U.S. House approved the amendment on a voice vote. To become law, it
would have to be passed by the Senate and signed by the president.

“Far from a necessity, the Cincinnati streetcar is a luxury project that
our nation and our region simply cannot afford,” Chabot said during
testimony on the House floor.

Some opponents of the amendment worry that it could prevent funding for other transportation as well.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, fixed guideway
refers to any transit service that uses exclusive or controlled
rights-of-way. That means the ban on federal funding to those modes of
transportation could apply to ferryboats, designated bus or carpool
lanes and aerial tramways in addition to streetcars.
Chabot’s office did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. (Andy Brownfield)

Mayor Mark Mallory and 3CDC representatives were scheduled
to kick off a grand opening celebration of Washington Park at 10 a.m. this
morning. The $48 million renovation includes an underground parking
garage, concession building, dog park and concert space. A rally against
the renovation and displacement of residents was scheduled for 10:30
a.m. CityBeat’s Mike Breen blogged away yesterday about the park’s
scheduled weekly music series.

But I think any Christian should spend much time in
prayer before refusing to vote for a family man with high morals,
business experience, who is against abortion, and shares Christian
conviction concerning homosexuality just because he is a Mormon.

Any Christian who does not vote or writes in a name is
casting a vote for Romney’s opponent, Barack Hussein Obama — a man who
sat in Jeremiah Wright’s church for years, did not hold a public
ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who
supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage.

I hope all Christians give their vote prayerful consideration because voting is a sacred privilege and a serious responsibility.

Jesse Luken gets role in Jackie Robinson biopic

The scion of a Cincinnati
political dynasty is starting to make it big in Hollywood.

Jesse Luken, the grandson of
ex-Congressman Tom Luken and the nephew of former Mayor Charlie Luken, has recently
landed notable roles on TV and film.

Luken recently had a
recurring role on the third season of Justified on the FX cable network. He
played Jimmy, a Mohawk-wearing young thug in the gang led by Boyd Crowder (Walton
Goggins).

Now Luken has been cast in
42, the big-screen biopic about Jackie Robinson, the first African-American
player in Major League Baseball. Luken will portray Brooklyn Dodgers second
baseman Eddie Stanky in the film, which is due to be released on April 12,
2013. The release is timed to coincide with MLB's Jackie Robinson Day, held
every April 15 to commemorate the date in 1947 when Robinson played his first
game with the Dodgers.

The film, named after the
number worn by Robinson, also features Chadwick Boseman in the title role; Harrison
Ford as Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey, who signed Robinson; and Christopher
Meloni as Dodgers manager Leo Durocher.

Luken is a Colorado Springs,
Colo., native who previously had guest roles on the TV series NCIS, Law and
Order: L.A. and Greek.

Cincinnati is moving forward, despite the better attempts of state Republicans

In his State of the City address
last week, Mayor Mark Mallory called on Cincinnati to continue pushing for
improvements. After years of stalling, projects like Washington Park’s
renovation, the Horseshoe Casino and the streetcar are finally moving forward,
and Mallory wants to make sure that work continues.

Politically and economically, it
makes sense. Not only have voters approved of both the casino and the
streetcar, but the projects will create jobs. Casino developers have already
begun to fill what they promise will be 1,700 permanent jobs, and city
estimates show the first segment of the streetcar will create 300 construction
jobs and 25 permanent jobs.

But while voters and local
politicians may approve, some state Republicans are doing their very best to
tear the projects down. Gov. John Kasich, who dismantled Ohio’s passenger rail
project, tried his hardest to continue his anti-transit rampage by railing
against the streetcar in public speeches last year. He even ripped away more than
$50 million in state funds from the project.

The casino has been a little
luckier, but not by much. Kasich has claimed both neutrality and approval of
casinos, but he has made building the Horseshoe Casino more difficult. Despite
the fact Ohio has the highest casino tax in the nation, Kasich pushed for
renegotiations for higher taxes and fees last year, ultimately delaying the
casino’s opening from late 2012 to spring 2013.

For the governor, such actions
probably make sense. Kasich has been an ardent supporter of tax cuts — sneaking
them into every single budget even when Ohio had a reported $8 billion deficit.
When he found massive education and health care cuts weren’t enough to close
the gap he helped create, he moved onto casinos and transit projects.

Still, the projects move forward. Kasich and other state
Republicans have not been successful in killing them off, largely thanks to
local voters and local politicians pushing back.

Meanwhile, the casino’s construction is 35 to 40 percent
complete, according to developers. This is despite an accident in January that
resulted in the injury of 20 workers after a steel beam fell and caused a floor
to partially collapse.

But what needs to be clear is that these developments are in
spite of state Republicans like Kasich. When these job-creating projects are
said and done, it’s important credit goes where credit is due — straight to
local voters and local politicians.